just joined

[threelions usa]

recently became the owner of a e volt 500 (actually i really love the camera and have recently returned from the west coast. seattle to san diego via the pch. acquired it many moons ago for a trip to thailand, but that's a long story).

i am hoping to move on a little more from the "point and shoot" category and are of course looking for help.

do i need filters ? what kind ? how many ? etc. etc.

i think that the camera with the two lenses gives me a lot of scope, but then again when you are not sure what to do, all the bells and whistles are no help.

i do think that i have managed a few decent shots, and have used olympus master to crop and tweak.

my biggest regret was that i didn't have the time i wanted to truly appreciate the entire trip (only down from mid oregon) and didn't get to choose the weather although it couldn't have been any better at all. except the trip to mount st. helen's ~ close your eyes, you were there. so much fog you couldn't see the mountain at all. i do believe though that i managed to get some good shots with the fog in the background.
of course i thought that this was a "simplified" slr as i didn't want a fixed lens only to find out later i enjoyed it so much i would need an entirely new set up.

so i am trying to learn how to upload pictures, re-size (wondered why my mates couldn't receive 6 or 7 of them until i realised that each was about 5.0 MB)



any help anyone can give would be truly appreciated as being a novice getting things right is a long way off. will try to get to a digital photography course but working evenings until 10 and at weekends doesn't exactly help.

if anyone could offer somewhere to at least (book or dvd) begin with composition dof etc. i would greatly appreciate the assistance.


cheers

(safely tucked away in 'ouston, texas....)

[gahspidy]

Hello threelions usa. Welcome to the forums. Many of our members here will be glad to help you with your endeavors into photography and give you some tips on resizing your images and uploading them for viewing.
I have moved your thread from the Critique forum to the Viewfinder forum. The Critique forum is specifically for presenting your photos to forum members in order to receive critique and/or suggestions on improving them. Here is a link to the guide lines for the critique forum. Photo Critique Forum Guidelines

This viewfinder forum is more open to general discussion as well as presenting your pictures.
Be sure to visit the Olympus Cameras and Four- Thirds Systems forum as you will be sure to learn alot there about your new set up.
http://forums.photographyreview.com/...sprune=-1&f=56
Glad you found us and look forward to seeing your photography

[poker]

Welcome aboard! Photography brings out the best in many.

do i need filters ? what kind ? how many ? etc. etc.

Some will say that computer programs can reproduce the effects of a filter quite well. You should learn a good program like Photoshop Elements or get full version Photoshop if it is in the budget.

Get a circular polarizer since that effect is hard to achieve on computer. Read up on it. Your skies and clouds will never be the same.

Some people buy filters for each of their lenses to protect it and some don't believe in it. both parties have valid points. All my lenses have UV filters so I never have to touch the front element. Some have dropped lenses and the filter cushions the fall.

The people who do not like filters say that it leaves a colors cast on the image. Some studies show this to be true. This is the reason why some filters are $20 and some are $100 for the same function and size.

Don't hesitate to post your shots on the Photo Critique thread.....don't take anything personally either. You'll learn alot there.

Cheers!

[WesternGuy]

My wife gave me Digital Photography for Dummies by Julie Adair King, a couple of months after I got my first DSLR. Best book by far on the subject IMHO. Covers all aspects of from the selection of a camera to editing your images and more. HTH.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[Frog]

Hello, threelions.
This is a great forum for learners and I assume pros because there are so many of them hanging out here.
Gary, Manacsa, and Western guy gave sound advice and all I'll add is that if you are using windows there is a power toy which will resize your pics for you. Here's the link: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...powertoys.mspx

Description about half way down the page and download link a bit further on the left.
After you load it, you can right click your pictures and there will now be a 're-size picture' option. Click that and you'll get a box with auto select making them 640x480.
Now post some of your pics in the critique forum and you'll get honest advice and what you can do to improve.

[another view]

Hi and welcome! Check out the Learn tab at the top right of the page - lots of good topics and lessons. As for filters, others may have different opinions (a big part of photography) but you really won't need anything other than a good polarizer. Spend more time learning the basics of exposure and composition before, they're the fundamentals of good pictures.

If you get into any version of Photoshop (Elements, CS, etc), look for a book by Scott Kelby called Adobe ___ for Digital Photographers. They will be available for all versions, and written in plain English so they're very easy to understand.

[cyberlord]

I'll second the only filter to use is a polarizer. All others you can produce with better results digitally.

If you want to learn basic photography, just go to google and search "basic photography". I know cameras these days are auto exposure, but that's the first thing you need to understand. Set your camera to manual and play with adjusting the aperture and setting the shutter speed to match. With digital you get to see the results instantly and see the differences and the EXIF data can help you see the camera settings later when you view them on the computer.

The book I really like is "The Photoshop CS book for Digital Photographers" by Scott Kelby. If you get to know your graphics program well you can use the techniques from the book in any program. I use them in The GIMP. However this book may not be the best for beginners, so don't buy it until you are ready.

Here is a link to google preview for the CS2 version of the book.
http://books.google.com/books?id=9ddD-ln0_JEC&pg

As far as image size goes, the file size depends on a few things, the actual pixel size (dimensions) and the compression rate (quality) of the jpg.

For viewing in email somewhere around 640x480 with 80% quality is a good start. For printing however you need to keep the original size as you need more pixels to keep the print resolution up so the print doesn't look pixelated (large square pixels).

Hope this helps and welcome to the board!

Tim